Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch' Letter to Manchester City

The Independent recently published a report that explains how international human rights organisations sent letters to the Manchester Council and Manchester City, in order to put pressure on the UAE and to urge it to take into account human rights.

Manchester is considered to be an important investment destination for the UAE in Britain, especially since the UAE has participated in huge housing projects for the development of the City. The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, bought the Manchester City Football club in 2008.

That's why the messages sent by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch stated that political leaders and the football team players should take advantage of their close trading relationships with the UAE and to urge Gulf states to put an end to the crimes of torture and the release of detained activists.

Both organizations called on the Chairman of Manchester City Council, Richard Liz, and Chief Executive Officer of the Board, Howard Bernstein, to take "simple and initial steps" to support the victims of torture in the United Arab Emirates.

The website reported that these messages were sent on the occasion of the upcoming anniversary of the Peterloo massacre, a massacre in which demonstrators in Manchester were killed while calling for political reform in Britain. The letters criticized the practice of torture against detainees in the UAE and asked to allow the United Nations to investigate the cases of torture in the country. They also called for the abolition of laws that allow any corporal punishment on women and for the refrain from arbitrary deportation of foreign workers who demand their rights.They finally asked for the release of all human rights defenders, including Dr Mohammed Al-Roken.

 Researcher in Gulf affairs at the Human Rights Watch, Nicholas Makjehan, said that the two organizations aim to impel the UAE to make some fundamental reforms, and to release Dr. Mohammed Al-Roken.